As part of an article on Bay Area methane emissions last April, the Monitor reported that the Environmental Protection Agency would soon propose measures to reduce that potent greenhouse gas nationally. The agency did so on August 18, introducing a set of proposed methane rules “that together will help combat climate change, reduce air pollution that harms public health, and provide greater certainty about Clean Air Act permitting requirements for the oil and natural gas industry.”
The rules include performance standards for industry methane sources such as hydraulically fractured oil well completions, fugitive emissions from well sites and compressor stations, pneumatic pumps, and equipment leaks at natural gas processing plants. They also offer guidelines relating to emission control technologies, and address volatile organic compounds as well.
This month, the EPA will receive comments on the proposed rules at three public hearings: one in Denver, Colorado on September 23; one in Dallas, Texas also on September 23; and one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 29. Comments may also be submitted through a variety of other ways. The EPA has announced it will accept written comments for 60 days from when the proposals were published in the Federal Register; that was August 27, placing the deadline for comment at October 26.